12Building a Mailing Label Report

Figure 12-1 Mailing label report output

Reports Builder provides many different layouts for your reports to suit your needs. In this example, you will learn how to set up a mailing label report so you can print out addresses from your database and print them out as mailing labels.

About mailing label reports

A mailing label report consists of data displayed in a format suitable for use as address labels on envelopes. The labels can be printed in one or many columns, and can begin at any position.

Concepts

Mailing labels can be created using simple, one-query reports with a special layout style.

Data Relationships

To fetch the data for a mailing label report, all you need to do is create a query to select it.

Layout

Oracle9i Reports provides a default mailing label layout in which the fields are positioned so that each field is directly below the preceding field. Field labels are not printed.

You will use the Report Wizard to create a simple mailing label report. The Report Wizard provides you with a formtting page, where you can choose how each mailing label will look.

You'll use the Vertical Spacing field, located in the Property Inspector for the repeating frame, to control the amount of blank space between each mailing label. The default spacing between repeating frames may not be sufficient, and you may want to specify that space be inserted between mailing labels in the layout so that they are correctly positioned when printing them onto labels.

Example Scenario

In this example, you will use the Report Wizard to define a mailing label layout for your report, and use the Query Builder to write a single query that selects all of the columns for this report. You don't need to create any other data objects; Oracle9i Reports will create all other necessary data objects by default. You will then create another mailing label report, also using a single query, this time using format triggers to suppress blank lines that may appear in the labels.

To see a sample mailing label report, open the examples folder named mailinglabel, then open the Oracle9i Reports example report named mailinglabel.rdf. For details on how to open it, see "Accessing the example reports" in the Preface.

Table 12-1 Features demonstrated in this mailing label report example

Feature

Location

Use the Report Wizard to create a introductory mailing label report with a paper layout.

12.1 Prerequisites for this example

To build the example in this chapter, you must have access to the sample schema provided with the Oracle9i database. If you don't know if you have access to this sample schema, contact your database administrator. You should have access to the "Human Resources" portion of the schema to complete this example.

12.2 Use the Report Wizard to create a mailing label report

When you create a report, you can either use the Report Wizard to assist you or create the report yourself. To build the simple report in this example, you can use the Report Wizard. Using the wizard enables you to define the layout for the report, as well as set the data definition.

Copy and paste the code from the provided text file called mailinglabel_code.txt into the Data Source definition field.

Click Query Builder to build the query without entering any code manually, as described in the steps above.

Type the code in the Data Source definition field.

Click Next.

Note:

If you are not already connected to a database, you will be prompted to connect to the database when you click Next. Ensure that you connect to a database that has the appropriate schema for this example. Section 12.1, "Prerequisites for this example" describes the sample schema requirements for this example.

On the Text page, format the way you want the mailing labels to display. Steps 20 through 24 will show you how to display your labels in the following format:

John Smith
55 Main Street
Springfield, ME 00000

In the Available Fields list, click FIRST_NAME, then click the right arrow (>) to move this field to the Mailing Label list.

In the Available Fields list, click LAST_NAME, then click the right arrow (>).

In the Available Fields list, click LAST_NAME, then click the right arrow (>).

Click New Line.

In the Available Fields list, click STREET_ADDRESS, then click the right arrow (>).

Click New Line.

In the Available Fields list, click CITY, then click the right arrow (>).

Press Backspace on your keyboard to remove the extra space.

Click Comma.

In the Available Fields list, click STATE, then click the right arrow (>).

In the Available Fields list, click POSTAL_CODE, then click the right arrow (>).

Figure 12-2 Paper Design view for the mailing label report

12.3 Add Vertical Spacing

In ths section, you will use the Vertical Spacing property to add space between each record in your mailing label report. You can adjust this spacing according to the size of the mailing labels where the records will be printed.

To add vertical spacing:

In the Object Navigator, under your report name, expand the Paper Layout node.

Under Paper Layout, expand the Main Section node.

Under Body, find the repeating frame called R_G_POSTAL_CODE.

Press F4 to open the Property Inspector for this repeating frame.

Under Repeating Frame, next to Vert. Spacing Between Frames, type 0.25.

Press Enter to add your changes.

In the toolbar, click Run Paper Layout to display your report in the Paper Design view.

Figure 12-3 Final mailing mabel report with vertical spacing

12.4 Summary

Congratulations! You have successfully created a mailing label paper report. You now know how to:

Define a mailing label report using the Report Wizard.

Adjust the vertical spacing between labels.

For more information on any of the wizards, views, or properties used in this example, refer to the Reports Builder online help, which you can access in two ways:

From the Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.com/products/reports/), click Documentation and navigate to the Oracle9i Reports Builder Online Help for the most recent, hosted online help.

From Reports Builder, choose Help > Help Contents.

Note:

You can replace your Reports Builder online help with the most recent update by downloading the latest online help set available on the Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.com/docs/products/reports/). Instructions for replacing your help file are included in the readme.txt in the download file.